What do you do when you are hungry all of the time??

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Luv108
Luv108 Posts: 18
in Food and Nutrition
At my current job I work almost 11 hours Monday-Friday, I am there 7:30am-6:00pm. I find that on weekends I am totally fine with my calorie goal (which is 1500, plus I'll eat exercise calories) and have 3 meals a day with a couple of snacks. But on the weekdays, it feels like such a long day, I get really hungry and I can't stop eating. I also go to the gym before work, so that adds onto wanting to eat more. I'll have a pre-workout snack, then breakfast at 7am. Then I'm hungry by 11am, then I'm hungry and want a meal at 3pm, then I am really hungry again when I get home at 6:30! If I don't eat when I get home I have a hard time falling asleep. I've tried eating smaller meals, but I get too hungry and out of it. I need alot of energy to take care of the toddler, I'm a babysitter. It is so discouraging, everyday I feel like a failure and that I'll never lose weight!
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Replies

  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
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    High protein and high fiber foods tend to keep me more satisfied - what kind of stuff are you eating during your workday?

    Also, where do you have your activity level set on MFP? If it is set to 'sedentary' for example, your calorie goal will be lower and it sounds like you are pretty active.
  • Luv108
    Luv108 Posts: 18
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    Thanks for responding! I have my activity level set for moderate because although I'm active throughout the day, I do still sit quite a bit. I usually eat a protein bar before my workout, it is early at 5am. And then after I will usually have oatmeal, toast with almond butter and banana, or a whole fruit and nut smoothie. MFP set my calories at 1500 to lose 1 lb a week. Yeah, maybe I need more protein. I'm a vegetarian, I eat dairy, but not eggs. I usually eat alot of beans, veggie burgers, tofu, and cheese for protein. I just don't know what I am doing wrong, maybe it is stress?
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    I don't know your size, but the heavier you are, the more you will feel starved at a lower calorie setting. As you lose weight, your body will not cry out as much for calories because it will need less to maintain. In the beginning I used to joke about my fat cells screaming for food, lol. Now they are much more satisfied with lower cals. I hope that makes sense.
  • Luv108
    Luv108 Posts: 18
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    Yeah, that is a good point, I am definitely overweight, I'm 5'4 at 174lbs. Maybe it is just that I'm fat!
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    Remember. a lot of this diet thing is mind over fat cells! We didn't get this way by feeling full. lol
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
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    Thanks for responding! I have my activity level set for moderate because although I'm active throughout the day, I do still sit quite a bit. I usually eat a protein bar before my workout, it is early at 5am. And then after I will usually have oatmeal, toast with almond butter and banana, or a whole fruit and nut smoothie. MFP set my calories at 1500 to lose 1 lb a week. Yeah, maybe I need more protein. I'm a vegetarian, I eat dairy, but not eggs. I usually eat alot of beans, veggie burgers, tofu, and cheese for protein. I just don't know what I am doing wrong, maybe it is stress?

    I'm a vegetarian too (at least, 99% of the time, I do occasionally eat chicken or fish) but I do eat eggs and dairy. I eat peanuts or almonds almost every day because they are very satisfying, although high in calories so I have to be careful with the portion size. Beans are a go-to food for me too.

    Stress could definitely be a factor, I am hungrier for sure when I'm chronically stressed.

    Are you set to lose 2 lbs a week or 1 lb? I started with it set to 2 lbs/wk and found I just could not eat that low and not feel like I was starving all day, so I changed it to 1 lb and found it a lot easier. And I've ended up losing an average of 1.7 lbs/week anyway, so I'm glad I switched. That might be something to consider (if that applies to you). It doesn't really matter to me in the long-run if it takes a little longer to lose it if going slower means keeping it off and not feeling deprived every day.

    One other suggestion since you don't have trouble keeping to your goal on weekends is to bank some calories. I keep track of my daily intake and if I'm under by a few hundred, as I am sometimes, I may then eat those back on another day if I'm really hungry. So, in your case, if you workout on weekends and can manage to get by without eating back all or some of your exercise calories, you could bank those for another day during the week.
  • myscaleaddiction
    myscaleaddiction Posts: 20
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    chew gum, drink water, and/or think of something else
  • Abztract1
    Abztract1 Posts: 10
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    I drink water to fill in the gaps between snacks. Keeps me full and hydrated through out the day and for my workouts. I love water and when it gets boring I add a splash of Mio. I try to drink at least 12 cups per day.
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
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    Chew sugarless gum. Drink hot tea. Drink water. Eat tic tacs as slowly as possible. Plan a lot of fruit and veggie snacks. Make sure I pack my lunch instead of relying on my "at work eating judgement."
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    Stress could definitely be a factor, I am hungrier for sure when I'm chronically stressed.

    One other suggestion since you don't have trouble keeping to your goal on weekends is to bank some calories. I keep track of my daily intake and if I'm under by a few hundred, as I am sometimes, I may then eat those back on another day if I'm really hungry. So, in your case, if you workout on weekends and can manage to get by without eating back all or some of your exercise calories, you could bank those for another day during the week.

    I do this all the time. Yesterday I was over on my cals, today I made up for it without feeling strarved. It helped me to average my cals over a weeks time, rather than stress about it daily.

    To the OP: Are you able to log on to MFP while working? If so, dwell here. You will get a lot of inspiration and help. You can do this!
  • ladywendolyn
    ladywendolyn Posts: 45 Member
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    Hot tea
  • KristysLosing
    KristysLosing Posts: 683
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    Eating mints or mint gum make me not want to eat anything else.
  • eandrsmom
    eandrsmom Posts: 119
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    When I am tired, I am famished. I packed on a ton of weight when my kids were younger and I was sleeping three or four hours a night on a good day. Now i still get that way on occasion, and it is my reminder to walk away from the laundry and head to bed.
  • marvybells
    marvybells Posts: 1,984 Member
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    i find that protein shakes really fill me up & make me not want to eat for a while. (that's not why i drink them, i'm trying to get more protein in because i tend to come in low most days. it's just something i noticed after i started drinking them.)
  • Crazy4Healthy
    Crazy4Healthy Posts: 626 Member
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    MFP may have you set to low to begin with. Check out http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ and plug in your numbers. It will give you your BMR, you should not go below that number. You may just need to eat a bit more, even 100 extra calories can really help.

    I agree that protein will also help you to feel full longer or complex carbs. Water is also a great filler as someone else mentioned.
  • peacemongernc
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
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    I have found that fiber and protein are key for me to not feeling hungry. And the odd thing is that my breakfast choices make the biggest difference of all. I don't know why that matters, but it makes a huge difference in how hungry I feel the rest of the day.

    One thing I noticed recently that surprised me... I was trying to make my body let go of water it was retaining because I had a weigh-in... I don't usually do anything different for that sort of thing, but this time it mattered more. I tend to put on between 2 and 8 pounds in water weight about 2 weeks out of the month. I decided to eat as perfectly as I could, and spent a whole lot of time sorting out my daily menu based on what I had in the house that I wanted to eat. I kept my protein and fiber as high as I could, and tried to get my sugar and salt (to things I rarely pay any attention to) lower than usual. I was trying to keep my sugar grams under 26 and my salt under 2500, and my protein over 120 and my fiber over 30 grams. I don't know if it was the lower sugar grams or what, but I swear I couldn't finish all the food I had planned for that day. I think I ended up with 1350 or something and I was so full I was uncomfortable. I try to keep my fiber and protein up all the time, although I don't typically go that high everyday, so the biggest difference was the sugar.

    Keeping my sugar low meant I couldn't eat fruits I normally eat (apples and oranges) and ate blueberries instead, and there were a few other changes like that.

    Anyway, I know for a fact that the protein and fiber helps, but I don't know about the rest. I thought I'd throw it out there for you to consider.

    Good luck!!
  • Shadowknight137
    Shadowknight137 Posts: 1,243 Member
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    Eat less meals.

    Seriously. I find the more I eat, the more I want to. Try eating three meals a day or less.
  • freddykid
    freddykid Posts: 265 Member
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    Just a suggestion, change when you go to the gym to after work. When I hit the gym hard I am always very hungry for a few hours after.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
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    Thanks for responding! I have my activity level set for moderate because although I'm active throughout the day, I do still sit quite a bit. I usually eat a protein bar before my workout, it is early at 5am. And then after I will usually have oatmeal, toast with almond butter and banana, or a whole fruit and nut smoothie. MFP set my calories at 1500 to lose 1 lb a week. Yeah, maybe I need more protein. I'm a vegetarian, I eat dairy, but not eggs. I usually eat alot of beans, veggie burgers, tofu, and cheese for protein. I just don't know what I am doing wrong, maybe it is stress?

    That is a lot of carbs especially your main breakfast, try more protein and healthy fats spread through the day. Many vegetarian sources are much lower in protein than meat and fish so vegetarians sometimes have to work extra hard at it. Vegetable burgers are often more carbs than protein, beans and lentils the same although very nutritious. Try more seeds for fibre and minerals, ones like flax and chia are particularly high fibre so very filling and also good sources of omega-3s albeit short chain. Do you take a marine algae supplements for long chain omega-3s since you don't have fish or eggs?

    Also try to make sure your carbs are the slower digesting ones - steel cut or jumbo oats not quick cook, beans and lentils which you already have, pot barley. If you are having regular bread consider switching to a bread with less wheat, more protein, or traditional not modern super finely ground flour - stoneground, granary or brown pitta are gentler on the blood sugar.
    http://www.marmaladeandmileposts.com/archives/21240

    If stress is contributing look at your long chain omega-3, B complex vitamins, magnesium and zinc intake.
  • Luv108
    Luv108 Posts: 18
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    Thanks everyone for your input, alot of helpful advice! I think I'll work on getting more fiber and protein, it seems this has helped alot of you out. And I'm going to try to bring tea to work, that may work! thanks :)

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